


Universe Unbound

by firesign10



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Realities, Alternate Universe, Dreams, Dreams vs. Reality, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 23:25:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8820508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firesign10/pseuds/firesign10
Summary: Jensen's life is overshadowed by his waking dreams and hallucinations. Nothing seems real—until he meets Jared, who stands out clear and strong. It's easy to think that Jared is taking a risk by loving Jensen. But risk takes on a new perspective when Jensen decides to test which world--the one with Jared or the one in his dreams--is the true one for him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [dollarformyname](dollarformyname.livejournal.com)'s art prompt in the [J2 Reverse Bang](j2_reversebang.livejournal.com). Her beautiful picture gave me a few ideas, but when I focused on this particular one, it was so exciting to write. Her work here is just gorgeous, so check out her Art Post too!! Many thanks to my wonderful beta and sounding board, [theatregirl7299](theatregirl7299.livejournal.com).

[ ](http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/firesign10/4507356/102177/102177_original.png)

The parapet was poured gray concrete, dull and rough. About three feet tall, it ran around a bleak square of dark asphalt littered with gum wads, bits of paper, and bird shit. The rooftop access door was flung wide open, its drab gray paint a stark rectangle against the ochre brick wall.

Jensen lifted his face up, smiling at the sun warming his cheeks and the wind fluttering his hair. He felt a little chilly in his T-shirt and jeans, but the sun was delicious. In his mind, he could see the way it would sparkle on the water, kissing the ripples and turning the whitecaps into flashes of foamy light. 

_Soon...almost there..._ He closed his eyes, giving himself over to the moment. Soon the ugly concrete and asphalt world would be behind him. Soon...he would be home.

“Jensen!” His eyes popped open at the cry, and he looked behind him, at the door that opened onto the roof. Someone stood in that doorway.

“Jensen!” Jared fell out onto the asphalt, scrambling to get his feet underneath him again. Jensen smiled softly; Jared was all long gawky legs, floppy dark hair, and his eyes—well, his eyes were magic. Blue and green and hints of brown-gold, tilted beguilingly over a face that Jensen knew would grow from the prettiness of a young man into the sculpted angles of a beautiful one. Jared didn't even know how gorgeous he would become, was completely clueless about his appearance, but Jensen could see its foretelling in the immature face.

“You shouldn't be here,” he gently chastised Jared, who had made it onto his feet and raced over to Jensen's side. “This isn't for you to go through.”

“I don't want you to go through it either, Jen! Please!” Jared's eyes filled with tears. “I love you so much. Please don't do this. Stay here with me.” His hands wrapped around Jensen's biceps, not pulling or tugging, but simply holding them. It was just like Jared, Jensen thought. He would never trap anyone or hold them against their will. Not any animal or person, and certainly not his lover.

Jensen spread his other hand on top of Jared's. “I love you too. So much. But I have to do this.” He let go of Jared's hands to gently brush one cheek with a finger. “We talked so much about this. I thought you understood.”

Jared ducked his head, his lips forming the pout that Jensen loved. “I do. I—I just can't help thinking, what if--”

“Sh sh sh.” Jensen laid a finger across Jared's soft lips. “There is no 'what if', there's only what I have to do. And this is what I have to do.” He kissed Jared, tasting the salt from his tears. “Baby, you're gonna make me cry too. This isn't a sad time, it's a happy one. I'm finally going home, Jared. Where I belong. This displaced life—it's over. It's time for me to move on now.”

Jared nodded, tears tracking down his cheeks. “Then...take me too. Take me with you. Please.” His mouth quivered. “Don't wanna be without you, Jen. Ever.”

Jensen drew Jared into his arms, holding him securely, yet reverently. “Me either, baby. Me either.”

 

* * * *

Jensen was like all the other boys when he was little. In kindergarten, he loved coloring and playing in the sandbox and riding his tricycle. When he was older, he collected Pokémon cards and played games on his DS, the one with a Batman on it. He did pretty well in school, and went to church most Sundays with his Mama and Daddy. Every year he got another candle on his birthday cake, and Mama would exclaim how big he was getting and Daddy would say what a little man he was.

One day he didn't feel good, and it wasn't like when he got a cold, where his nose would run and get sore from all the Kleenex, or the flu, when he barfed in his sleep and Mama had to give him a bath at 3:00 in the morning. This was...different. His _bones_ ached. His skin hurt; he couldn't bear to be touched, not even by Mama's soft hand or the cool sheets. His throat was parched, but he could barely sip any water; he was exhausted, but he hurt too much to get any sleep. Finally Mama and Daddy took him to the hospital, a big white building full of strange smells and sounds and way too many people everywhere. A lot of different people came and looked at him, poking him and taping tubes to him. He was too sick to resist, just crying weakly while Mama and Daddy tried to make him feel better.

Finally he fell asleep, and he slept a long, long time. He knew it was a long time because when he finally woke up, he heard people talking about it. He kept his eyes closed to listen for a minute; he didn't hurt anymore, but he felt strange and floaty, so he listened while he tried to figure out what was going on.

“Poor boy, still hasn't woken up. Going on three weeks now,” A female voice tsked while hands deftly straightened out his sheets.

A second voice, slightly further away than the first one. “I feel so bad for his parents. They're here all day every day, and I can't offer them any real hope. The doctors still don't even know what's happening with him.” 

“Nope. Another couple of days and they'll be talking about sending him out of here to long-term care.” A heavy sigh, and a squeeze of his hand.

He squeezed back.

* * * 

“Jared, remember when I told you about being sick? When I was little, and I was in the hospital for a month?” Jensen held Jared's hands to his chest, watching Jared's hazel eyes.

Jared nodded, his thumbs rubbing Jensen's.

“That was when it started. When I began to understand that I was...different. That I didn't belong here.” Jensen licked his lips; they felt dry, _he_ felt dry, his skin thirsty and parched. “Everything felt strange, alien. And when I hit adolescence, I finally realized that the world wasn't alien. It was _me_. This world is fine, it's just the way it should be. I'm the one who's the alien.”

Jared bit his lower lip a second. The breeze tossed his already-messy hair, and Jensen noticed anew how there were strands of gold and red mixed in with the dark brown, glinting in the sun.

“Tell me again, Jen. Tell me how you figured it out.” His eyes had the pleading softness of a puppy. “I just need to hear it again now.”

“Sure, baby.” Jensen kissed him, a brush of the lips, and told him.

 

* * *

Becoming a teenager is never easy. Jensen watched how some of the kids at his school seemed to manage it with minimal disruption, growing tall and attractive, having a flock of friends, dating. He couldn't really even be envious—it would be like envying peacocks that can spread their opulent tails, or being jealous of the iridescent grace of fish, zipping through salt water currents. They fit perfectly into their environments, interacting and cavorting with their fellow creatures. 

And totally oblivious of him.

That was one of the first things he noticed. He could be right there, smack dab in the hallway or classroom, and yet no one really saw him. If he spoke, they would realize that he was there and respond, but otherwise, he glided silently through the halls like a fish weaving through coral mazes and seaweed fields.

He joined the swim team, wanting to be part of something and yet only responsible for himself. It was a perfect fit; not only did he love the physical training, he loved being in the water. All the time. He practiced on non-practice days, just to feel the swoosh of the water as he pushed through it, the lapping around his shoulders as he hung on the pool's edge. The chlorine was annoying...it didn't just irritate his eyes, it felt _wrong_. Unnatural. He could manage to ignore it though, and so for five years he swam every day.

Those were just some clues. It was the dreams that really clarified things for him.

They started when he was fifteen. While his classmates were having wet dreams and waking up damp and sticky, Jensen's dreams were filled with gliding along the sea-bottom, trailing fingers in the sand. Vast structures of coral, occasionally buttressed with some part of a sunken ship, were lit with bio-luminescent fish and eels, decorated with colorful shells. Jensen swam past all this time and time again, always arriving at the foot of white marble steps leading out of the water.

Going up the steps, he rose out of the water onto a vast plaza, white marble paving cool and smooth under his bare feet. Graceful buildings ran along the edges of the plaza and dotted the interior in a pleasing randomness. Lush plants and gorgeous flowers ringed the buildings' foundations, luxuriant growth that softened all the marble and stone.

It was beautiful, beautiful enough to take Jensen's breath away every time he saw it. He stood and stared, finally becoming aware of the people walking around the plaza. And as soon as he noticed them...they noticed him. Without him saying a word, they began to drift toward him, greeting him. Welcoming him. Embracing him.

Jensen didn't know where this place was, but he knew how it felt. It felt like home.

 

* * *

“So I know,” he told Jared. “I know I'm supposed to be there. It's some kind of...mistake or something that I'm here instead.”

“I'm glad you're here,” whispered Jared. “I wouldn't have met you. Wouldn't have fallen in love with you.” He wiped his eyes with the back of one hand. “That's why I don't want you to go.”

“You're the best thing in my life here.” Jensen kissed Jared's forehead. “I love my parents, I do, but you—you're so much more, you matter like no one and nothing else.”

Jared gently pulled away. “How do you know? What told you that this was the way?” His eyes were wide and shiny, pleading as they stared into Jensen's.

* * *

Thanks to swim team and his parents, Jensen made it through high school. He decided to stay in Texas for college, wanting to be fairly close to home still, so he applied and got into Texas Tech University. All of his years swimming had made him acutely aware of muscles and how the body worked, which made physical therapy a natural fit. Everything was set for him to start after graduation.

He never made it to TTU. The dreams, a constant companion throughout his high school years, began to bleed into his waking life, leaving Jensen either wandering through the day in a confused state, or else sleeping or semi-comatose for hours on end, even days. His parents soon brought him to this doctor and that, running into various diagnoses that shared one characteristic: it was some type of mental illness, one of unknown origin or cause. Various treatments, medications, therapies were employed, all to no avail. The chance for college slipped away, and there was concern about if Jensen could even live outside of an institution. His parents were reluctant to accept that, but eventually agreed he'd have better, round-the-clock care at a good group home.

And so Jensen left home, but not in the way he'd hoped. He was cognizant enough to realize he was moving, but within a few hours at his new home, he was already drifting around the hallways, conversing with people no one else saw.

* * *

“Then you came, Jared. You changed everything.”

* * *

Jensen didn't have any sense of time, so he didn't know how long he'd lived at the Kripke Group Residence. All he knew was that one day he was roaming around, seeing the white marble walls and gorgeous tapestries of his dream-home, and suddenly an intriguing young man appeared in front of him. Jensen could see real people if he was not in one of his fugue states--he just didn't care to respond to them usually. But this person...he was tall and beautiful, and Jensen knew right away that he was different. Special.

Regardless of how he interacted with the rest of the world, Jensen could always see Jared clearly; the mists parted and Jensen could easily focus on him when he was around. Jared was a sophomore at UT Dallas, and he was interning at the Kripke home for his psychology minor. Jared was quickly just as fascinated and attracted to Jensen as Jensen to him; he was eager to spend time with Jensen, and he listened to the stories Jensen unspooled of his life and his reality-obscuring dreams. 

Jensen's doctors noticed how Jensen was more approachable, more grounded, since Jared arrived. The change gave them hope that Jensen could return more to the real world, function more fully and engage in life. Jensen heard them talking to him, about him, and he just closed his eyes and let his mind go back to his dream-home. He knew this wasn't the right place for him. He simply didn't know how to get to where he wanted to be.

* * *

“You made such a difference for me.” Jensen shifted on the cold concrete, his butt feeling stiff.

“Jen, let's get down, okay? Let's go back downstairs.” Jared stepped back, tugging on Jensen's hands.

Jensen cocked his head. “But, Jay—I'm gonna go. There's no point for me to go downstairs. I'm not going back to Kripke's.”

Jared bit his lip. “Please, baby...”

A flash of light caught Jensen's attention from the corner of his eye, and he looked over his shoulder. Down on the sidewalk was a small crowd, milling around behind yellow sawhorse barricades. In front of the barricades were another dozen people, most of them looking up at him. Behind the crowd were an ambulance, a fire truck, and two or three police cars, all of them silent but with lights flashing and spinning.

“Wow...” Jensen was taken aback. “What is all of that about?”

“You,” replied Jared. “Um, it's pretty standard for someone who looks like they are going to jump.”

The crowd made Jensen feel uncomfortable. He'd never planned on having spectators. This was a private thing, a personal matter. “Can you make them go away, Jay?”

Jared shook his head. “No, they won't leave unless you come down.”

Jensen sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. _Fuck._ “Jared, you know what I'm doing, don't you? I'm not committing suicide here. I have no interest in dying.”

Jared ran a hand through his hair. “I know. But I can't help worrying that that's what's going to happen here. Jensen, if you jump off this building--”

“I'm going home. That's all it is. It's the only thing I could ever bear to leave you for.” He grabbed Jared's hands and drew him close again. “Baby, I love you. I just—I can't stay here anymore, even for you. I have to go.”

Jared hugged him tightly before breaking away and pacing along the roof edge. “How do you know? I mean, what makes you so sure that this is it, and not--”

“It came to me in a dream. I realized that it's not something in my head, or a past life, or anything like that. It's more like...parallel dimensions or something. Or twisted ones, where they're all spiraled together like strands of yarn. There are spots where the strands gap, and that's what I found. I found a gap between the strands, and I'm going to use it to go home.”

“But why here? What says it's _here?_ ”

“The fountain.” Jensen looked over the balustrade, ignoring the people, the lights, the emergency equipment. “It's the fountain.”

 

* * *

Jensen might not have ever seen the fountain, were it not for Jared. Jared was allowed to take Jensen out on walks and small outings. They went to the park, the pet store, the art museum. Jensen behaved perfectly for Jared, alert and engaged, and the outings were deemed beneficial in terms of fresh air and stimulation.

Jared brought Jensen to the fountain the first time on one warm spring day, a day where the breeze wafted fragrant scents from flowering trees and the sun's warmth permeated one's skin. The fountain was in a large courtyard, loosely ringed by buildings. The paving switched from regular concrete to large, smooth pavers in a variety of colors: dark blue, dark gray, a dark greenish hue, and the occasional white block. The effect was like an ocean of stone, the mottled colors re-creating waves and ripples.

Jensen heard the fountain before he saw it; the sounds of water splashing in a subtle melody just beyond his reach. In the center of the courtyard, the fountain itself rose gracefully. Jensen had half-expected something ornate and heavy, like an old European fountain, spilling water from cherubic faces or gargoyles. This was nothing like that. This was an assortment of cavorting dolphins, with some jumping up high to spray water down over the rest. They were a mixture of white marble and silver metal; a combination that could seem awkward or odd, but here created a harmonious blending of shapes and materials. Water arced not just from the top dolphins, but all the dolphins, so that a merry cascade of water droplets from every direction sparkled in the sun. It all pooled in a vast basin, simple and shallow, adding to the feel of the dolphins at play in the ocean. 

Jensen was stunned. He couldn't move for several moments, eventually alarming Jared. “I'm okay,” Jensen finally breathed, eyes still fixed on the fountain. “I'm okay.” Jared relaxed somewhat, standing next to Jensen while they both took it all in. “It's the closest thing I've ever seen to home. The grace, the simplicity, the joy...”

“Jen, you're crying.” Jensen felt Jared's soft touch on his cheeks. “Are you sure...”

“Yes.” Jensen nodded. “It just makes me want to go home. My real home.”

* * *

Jensen tugged Jared gently, pulling him around so he could look over the rooftop edge and see the fountain too. “The day you brought me here, I knew this was the place. This was where I could find my way through.” He peered at Jared. “You get it, don't you?”

Jared nodded slowly. “I do. I understand.” He took a deep breath, releasing it in a trembling exhale. “But it doesn't change that I don't want to lose you. And I feel like, one way or another, I'm going to do just that.”

Jensen ran his thumb under one of Jared's brimming eyes, then the other. His thumb pad came away wet. He cupped Jared's face in both hands. “Darlin', I love you so much. I'll always be with you.”

Jared jerked his head away, his voice petulant. “Sure, in that crappy metaphysical way. I want you _really_ here. Here to hug and kiss, to feel your body pressed against mine.” He sniffled. “We've never even—we'll never get to--”

There was nothing Jensen could say to refute that. Jared was right. Being together in mind and spirit was not the same as being together physically. And as far as physically went, they'd only shared kisses. Jensen had no privacy, and Jared was too conscious of his 'patient' status. So there were only hot, sweet kisses, and then Jensen lying alone in his bed at the home, stroking his cock hard and fast as he imagined being with his love in all the glorious ways lovers can be together.

Jared drew another deep breath in. “Jensen—what if...”

“What, baby?” Jensen nuzzled Jared's soft skin, laid over his elegant cheekbone. His lashes tickled Jensen's nose.

“What if I came with you?”

 

* * *

Jared stood a couple of feet away from the edge, feet planted wide. His jaw jutted out stubbornly, and his arms were crossed in front of his chest. He could hardly parse out his emotions; he was devastated about losing Jensen, frustrated that Jensen wouldn't agree to his suggestion, angry that Fate would bring him to such a ridiculous, futile point in his life. “Jensen, why? If it's what you believe, then I'll be with you there. And if not, then you're just jumping off this fucking building to your death. You either believe it's going to be okay or you don't. You can't have it both ways.”

Jensen's deep green eyes shone brilliant against his pale face. “I don't want you to lose the life you should have here. This is your place, your world.”

Jared's fists balled up. “Bullshit! My place is with _you!_ ”

Jensen walked over to him. “I love you. Only you. Ever you.” He kissed Jared and turned away, walking back to the edge. This time, he climbed up on it.

“No!”

Jared's feet moved without conscious thought. In three long strides, he was at the edge.

Jensen teetered forward. Jared flung himself forward, wrapping his long tightly around Jensen's thighs. Jensen cried out, but he couldn't stop.

Together they fell.

[ ](http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/firesign10/4507356/101936/101936_original.png)

 

* * *

Jensen swung out into space, but not before he felt Jared latch onto his legs. Jared's grip was like a python, squeezing for all he was worth. Jensen didn't have time to yell or do anything—they were over, they were in the air--

They were falling.

Air streamed over him like the thick currents of a river. His shirt flapped, his hair plastered itself against his scalp, and his eyes teared uncontrollably. Yet it felt like they were not falling as fast as he'd expected, like their bodies were slowing as the air currents gripped them. Jensen had a moment to reflect on that, and ponder about the perception of speed...

Even as that passed through his thoughts, they were approaching the fountain. The dolphins emerged from a mass to individual beings, sleek and curved, tails flipping and snouts raised. Jensen felt their steel and marble eyes on him like they were evaluating him. A flash of panic-- _please, please don't let me be wrong_ \--

And he saw it before him. The complicated weaving of the water streams, sparkling like strings of diamonds, moving and then slowing, their separate paths distinct as they rotated.

The streams slowed as he and Jared came closer, moving together and yet syncing with the two of them. They moved as one, and now Jensen could see between the streams as they slowly spun, as he and Jared slowly spun, and there--

A glimpse of white marble courtyards and graceful structures, flowers and fountains, bathed in sunlight.

And a crowd of people gathered, waiting. Smiling.

Welcoming him home.

He grabbed Jared tightly with one hand, making sure they stayed together as one, as Jensen reached out with his other hand, reached _through,_ and dove into the gap between the sparkling strands of water.

* * *

_Dallas News, evening edition_

Two young men jumped today from the Speight office building, located at the Dolphin Fountain courtyard. Police, EMS, and a fire engine stood by, hoping to rescue the men. Jensen Ackles, 22, a resident of the Eric Kripke Group Home, a psychiatric living facility, and Jared Padalecki, 19, a student at University of Texas at Dallas, were seen on the rooftop for a few hours before they leaped. At one point, it looked like Padalecki was attempting to talk Ackles down off the rooftop. Padalecki held on to Ackles' legs as he jumped, but it is unknown if he was attempting to save Ackles or jump with him. Police report, however, they are stymied at finding no bodies or signs of impact in the fountain or courtyard.

The Ackles and Padalecki families will announce services shortly.


End file.
